Dietary hematein ameliorates fatty streak lesions in the rabbit by the possible mechanism of reducing VCAM-1 and MCP-1 expression

• Published in: Atherosclerosis 2001-11, Vol.159 (1), p.17-26
• Main Authors: Taeg Oh, Goo, Hoon Choi, Jae, Joo Hong, Jung, Kim, Dae-Young, Lee, Sae-Bom, Kim, Ju-Ryoung, Lee, Chul-Ho, Hyun, Byung-Hwa, Ryang Oh, Sei, Bok, Song-Hae, Jeong, Tae-Sook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anticholesteremic Agents - pharmacology; Aorta, Thoracic - metabolism; Aorta, Thoracic - pathology; Arteriosclerosis - metabolism; Arteriosclerosis - pathology; Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis (general aspects, experimental research); Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Blotting, Northern; Caesalpinia; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Chemokine CCL2 - biosynthesis; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - administration & dosage; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; Endothelium, Vascular - drug effects; Endothelium, Vascular - metabolism; Endothelium, Vascular - pathology; Hematein; Hematoxylin - administration & dosage; Hematoxylin - analogs & derivatives; Hematoxylin - pharmacology; Lipids - blood; Lipoproteins, LDL - blood; Male; MCP-1; Medical sciences; Monocytes - drug effects; Monocytes - pathology; NF-kappa B - metabolism; Oxidation-Reduction; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Probucol - pharmacology; Rabbits; Transcriptional Activation - drug effects; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - pharmacology; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 - biosynthesis; VCAM-1
• ISSN: 0021-9150; 1879-1484
• DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9150(01)00464-6

Hematein is a compound isolated from Caesalpinia sappan that has been used in oriental medicine as both an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory agent. In this study, we examined the anti-atherogenic potential of hematein using cholesterol-fed New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. NZW rabbits were divided into a hematein-supplemented (0.05% in diet) group ( n=6), a probucol-supplemented (0.25% in diet) group ( n=6), and a control group ( n=6). After 8 weeks of treatments, the extent of the atherosclerotic lesions was significantly reduced in the hematein-supplemented group and the probucol-supplemented group without changing plasma lipoprotein levels. Hematein and probucol prevented the up-regulation of the vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression on the descending aorta induced by cholesterol diet. In culture, hematein also significantly inhibited the secretion of soluble VCAM-1 and of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) respectively induced by tumor necrotic factor α (TNF-α) and mildly oxidized low density lipoprotein in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) culture. Also, hematein inhibited monocyte adhesion to endothelial cell and the activation of NF-κB in HUVECs stimulated with TNF-α. The results of the present study suggest that the anti-atherogenic effect of hematein is not related to control of the plasma lipid profile but probably related to the inhibition of VCAM-1 and MCP-1 expression resulting in an amelioration of lesion development in the rabbit.